We Dream it, You

Built it, You Move!

Alicia Mireles
Andrea Flores
Ramiro Armenta
Joshua Gonzalez

Thesis:
Through the appropriation of land, Mexican
Angelenos were displaced by Anglo elites for
their sheer interest of modernizing Los Angeles
to generate their profit.

Displacement Effects on Mexican Americans

after the Mexican-American War

After the
Mexican-American War,
Mexican communities
were displaced from their
properties because they
did not have proper
documentation to prove
that they owned their
piece of land.

Territory Won
As a result of an
American victory in the
war, the territories of
California, Texas, New
Mexico, Arizona, and
parts of Colorado
became part of the
United States.

Land Law of 1851

The Land Law of 1851, which required all Mexican landowners to validate
their grants before a Land Claim Commission, placed a tremendous hardship
on Mexican landholders, who had to hire lawyers to represent them against
all comers, sometimes hundreds of squatter claimants.
Squatters, mostly Anglo immigrants but also including some opportunistic
Mexicanos, moved on to the unfenced rancho lands to lay claim to what
they hoped would be declared public domain by the courts.
(http://aztlan.sdsu.edu/chicanohistory/chapter05/c05s02.html)

Build a Dam
-Angelino Elites quickly began
molding L.A. into the city of
their dreams.
-Besides moving Mexican
Angelinos into a designated
area, Sonora Town, the Elites
built a dam for the L.A. River.

Ideal Use of River for Elites

Deverell wrote, The river has been
asked to play many roles. It has
supplied the city and basin with water
to drink and spread amidst their
grapes, oranges and other crops.
(Deverell, 94).

Elites Know Whats Best

Bibliography
Chapter 5: San Diegos Mexican Community, 1850-1910: Why did the Mexican Californios
lose their lands? (2011). Aztlan.sdsu.edu. Retrieved from
http://aztlan.sdsu.edu/chicanohistory/chapter05/c05s02.html
Transcript of Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). OurDocuments.gov. Retrieved from
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=26&page=transcript.
Deverell, William. Whitewashed Adobe : The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past (1).
Berkeley, US: University of California Press, 2004. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 28 November 2016.

Argument #1:

Chavez Ravine

The Anglo elites manipulated and deceived the

Chavez Ravine community for the purpose of
modernizing Los Angeles.

In order to
persuade the
people to vacate
their homes, city
officials stated
that they would
use their land to
build affordable
housing.

However, because
the newly
appointed mayor,
Norris Poulson,
was against social
services, the plans
for building
affordable
housing changed
(Henderson, 1980).

Instead, the city

officials chose
to sell the 300
acres to Walter
OMalley who
wished to use
the land to build
the Dodger
Stadium
(Estrada, 2005).

Community Members, such as

Aurora Vargas, resisted once
she found out that her piece of
land would instead be used to
build the Dodger Stadium.

Members from the

Chavez Ravine
community resisted
vacating their
homes because they
argued that they
were never
consulted and were
simply mailed
eviction notices.

Therefore, they
refused to leave their
property even after
their homes were
bulldozed.

The city of Los Angeles Health Department sent out notices

asking them to
because it was considered unsanitary to be living in a tent.

In The End...
Despite all the chaos and
resistance, the Dodger
Stadium was built and
opened on April 10th, 1962.

A symbolic key to
the Dodger
Stadium was
presented to
president Walter
O'Malley on April
9th, 1962 (during
the Dedication
Ceremony)

Chavez Ravine Bibliography

Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection Photo of Plea to the mayor, Help us keep our homes and freedom
Photo of Walter OMalley with a shovel ready to break ground to build the Dodger Stadium
Photo of Its Official, they can start building Dodger Stadium
Photo-sketch of proposed Stadium area
Two photos of a member of the Arechiga family being dragged out of their home by four police officers.
Photo of the Arechiga family reading the mailed eviction notice
Photo following eviction of Chavez Ravine residents staying in tents as they refused to leave the area.
Photo of the crowd at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day on April 10th, 1962
Photo of Walter OMalley receiving a symbolic key to the Dodger Stadium on April 9th, 1962
Legal Documents found in Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection

Department of Health notice to the Arechiga family to terminate the use of tents for sleeping.
Housing Authority eviction notice addressed to Palos Verdes and Chavez Ravine residents to notify their displacement of
their homes.

Scholarly Article

Henderson, C. (1980). Los Angeles and the Dodger War, 1957-1962. Southern California Quarterly,62(3), 261-289.

Argument #2:

LA Freeway System

During the construction of the Los Angeles Freeway

System, corporate interests were seen as more important
than the community interests, and the re-routing of
freeways were only done to accommodate industry and
white suburbia (Estrada, 2005).

Corporate Interests Seen As More IMPORTANT

Sears was able to
influence city and
state planning to
build the Santa Ana
freeway in a way
that would benefit
their business by
attracting more
customers (Estrada,
2005).

Community Interests IGNORED

-The building of the Santa Ana

freeway negatively affected
Soto Street Elementary School
because a section of it was
destroyed to accommodate the
building of the freeway,
despite it being one of the only
schools available in the area
(Estrada, 2005).

Re-Routing of Freeways
Calaveras Big Trees State Park

Hollenbeck Park

LA Freeway System Bibliography

Estrada, Gilbert. If You Build It, They Will Move: The Los Angeles Freeway System and the
Displacement of Mexican East Los Angeles, 1944-1972. Southern California Quarterly, vol. 87,
no. 3, 2005, pp. 287315. www.jstor.org/stable/41172272.
Smith, D. Boyle Heights Revitalization Watch: Sears Building Still Waiting for You. LA.curbed.com.
Retrieved from
http://la.curbed.com/2010/11/17/10494830/boyle-heights-revitalizationwatch-sears-building-stillwaiting-for-you

Argument #3:

Gentrification (land
acquisition) through the Arts

Top view of Boyle Heights

Boyle Heights
1950s

2000s and Up

Boyle Heights Now (transitioning)

Some Art Galleries in

Boyle Heights

Location of some Art Galleries

Eric Avila (UCLA professor of History/

Chicano studies and urban planning)

If you think about it, the struggle for Mexican

American civil rights has always been strongly
connected to this ideas of turf, territory...Mexican
American history is about displacement and dislocation
and conquest.

Out with the Old

Resume:
Movies - Grease, Terminator 2
Commercials- Car Commercials
Novels- Always Running
Photoshoots- LowRider
Magazine
HISTORIC SITE!!!

In with the New

Boyle Heights Bibliography

Mejia, B. (2016, Mar 03). ON THE BRINK OF GENTRIFICATION; boyle heights has
resisted change for years. Los Angeles Times Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.torofind.csudh.edu/docview/1771283257?accountid=10347
Mejia, B., & Saldivar, S. (2016, Aug 05). TAKING IT TO THE CANVAS; as new galleries move in, activist say a long
time
community art institution is helping accelerate boyle heights gentrification. Los Angeles Times Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.torofind.csudh.edu/docview/1809003155?accountid=10347
Mejia, B. (2016, Nov 04). CHANGING NEIGHBORHOODS; boyle heights vandalism
seen as possible hate crimes; graffiti on art galleries could be reaction to gentrification fears. Los
Angeles Times Retrieved from
http://0-search.proquest.com.torofind.csudh.edu/docview/1835884982?accountid=10347
Spalding, Sophie. The Myth of the Classic Slum: Contradictory Perceptions of Boyle Heights Flats,
1900-1991. Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), vol. 45, no. 2, 1992, pp. 107119.
www.jstor.org/stable/1425278.

Conclusion
-In conclusion Mexican Angelenos were continuously displaced
throughout the years whether they liked it or not. If Anglo elites
dreamt about an idea to modernize Los Angeles, Mexican Americans
would build it, and Anglo elites would take over it for their own
interest and profit.